Indian Summer Naginata Seminar

by David D’hose

At the end of October, I had the honor of being invited by the Canadian Naginata Federation to lead their annual seminar alongside senseis Naoko Okura and Ryoko Tanimoto.  It’s always a pleasure to lead a seminar in Canada, as the practitioners are very enthusiastic and attentive to the slightest advice on how to evolve over the three days of practice.

But let’s start at the beginning: the journey! I left for Toronto on Tuesday, October 22, to take advantage of a few days on site to discover the beauty of Canada in the colors of Indian summer. I was warmly welcomed by Jordan Maclem and Mary Phan and their beautiful children. « Whyyyyyyyy would say one of them ???? Mama… may answer the other one J

Anyway the next day kind Kaori invite me to visit the amazing Niagara falls which is probably something that all of us want to see once in a lifetime.

The next day I had the chance to see Toronto from Susan ‘s boat, it was a wonderfull moment and probably the best view you can share of the city.

It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to discover a place with people who share the same passion as you, and I’d like to thank Susan and Kaori again for introducing me to Toronto.

On Friday, after a briefing with Tanimoto sensei and Okura sensei on the program, we started training at mid-day. The new president of the federation, Jordan Maclem, launched the course with a short speech and we divided the participants into three groups. There were all levels, from beginners discovering naginata to advanced 5th dan. We mainly went over kihon and shikake odji, finishing with a little bogu.

Saturday was a much busier day, and Tanimoto sensei decided to hold a morning of bogu, with the sensei and 5th dan in motodachi for the other practitioners. All in all, we performed some 40 kakari geiko, which sometimes turned into gigeiko depending on the partners.

The afternoon was devoted to reviewing the material for the gradings that would occupy the next morning.

In the evening, as is customary for this type of seminar, we shared a meal in a good little restaurant in town.

The gradings went relatively smoothly after the course, and we welcomed eight 1st dan, one 2nd dan and three 3rd dan.

The afternoon was a good time for high grade to review zen nihon kata and others had a chance to practice shiai with Tanimoto sensei as shinpan.

After this great experience I took a flight back to Europe.

I want to thank again to all the members of the Canadian Federation for their great hospitality J